JACKSON – It may be the season for holiday lights but street lights were on the minds of residents during a recent Township Council meeting.
Councilwoman Jennifer Kuhn noted in her council report “I know there are a lot of lights out. Jackson has a link on their page (jacksontwpnj.net) that you can click on and submit the light that is out. I also talked to the (township) engineer about it. There are a lot of lights with JCP&L (Jersey Central Power & Light) and the engineer is working on it and letting them know.”
“It does take a little time to get to a particular light. I know we are getting a lot of calls for South Cooks Bridge where there is a lot of lights out there,” Kuhn said. “If there is a light out in your neighborhood we do want to know and if you want to send it to trafficsafety@jacksontwpnj.net. We will forward it on to the engineer if you are unable to do it.”
Traffic tracking devices were put on Buckingham and Birmingham roads, the council president said. “Unfortunately, due to our not having enough manpower in the traffic safety department they were unable to get the machines in to get me reports for tonight.”
“We passed a resolution last year for the hiring of 130 officers which is where we feel our town should be. The Civil Service tests just came out. There are 90 applicants and I thought ‘oh wow that is a lot.’ There used to be between 300 to 400 applicants.”
Kuhn added, “we have 90 applications to go through and we are civil service town so 28 of them are Jackson residents, 30 are from Ocean County and the rest are in the state.” She mentioned that the hiring in November of two part time Class II officers. “We are looking to hire more of them and that goes through administration.”
The council president also spoke about a new program that has been launched by the police department that may provide another eye on crime.
Residents can help Jackson Police investigate incidents near your location by registering in the new Camera Registry program.
Police Chief Matthew Kunz told The Jackson Times, “Our Body Worn Camera vendor brought this to our attention, and promoting it was as easy as sharing the registry QR code.”
This totally voluntary program can be extremely helpful to law enforcement. Police officers, dispatchers, and detectives can locate citizen cameras in the area of their investigation and request video from certain dates or times.
Kuhn stressed that this will not allow them to enter your security cameras without your permission or view videos you have stored. It only helps investigators get in touch with you in case of a criminal incident in your location. “They will not have access whatsoever. You are just registering that you have one.”
This registry information is only accessible to authorized public safety personnel. Once someone has registered, it puts an icon on their mapping system so officers, detectives and dispatchers can view who has cameras in the area which may assist them concerning a case.
Once police see one that they may find helpful to view, the individual would be contacted for their assistance in the matter. Those interested in this program can register by visiting polaris.cameraregistry.net/registry/JacksonTownshipNJPolice.
“I feel it is a great way for everybody to feel safe in the neighborhood. I know a few years ago my car was stolen right out of my driveway. I was sleeping in my house and thought my brother was playing a prank on me. It is important, safety is always first,” Kuhn added.
She also noted that during the holiday season and during a period of high food costs, “our local food bank (Jackson Food Pantry) is here to assist and we encourage you to reach out if you or someone you know can use a little helping hand. They are open on Saturday from 12 to 3 p.m. if anyone would like to drop off anything.”
Councilman Nino Borrelli reported on upcoming holiday events such as the annual Menorah Lighting at 5 p.m. on December 30 on the grounds of Town Hall.
Councilman Mordechai Burnstein discussed the process of requesting sidewalks within the township.
“The process of requesting these sidewalks requires a survey and sometimes requires paving and retaining walls and sometimes you need easements or imminent domain. There is a lot of different processes involved. The administration is working on high density and unsafe areas and we look forward to sharing more with you in the near future,” Burnstein said.
Councilman Steven Chisholm said the township Department of Works “has been hard at work picking up all the leaves. We have a lot of trees in parts of Jackson. Make sure you aren’t just pushing that out into the road which would make it unsafe for drivers.”
“We know the roads are not always the safest place to be and anything they (DPW workers) can do to make things safer is a great thing,” he added. He also noticed an uptick in citizen leadership forms being received at Town Hall.
Chisholm added, “There are a lot of committees that you can find on the (municipal) website jacksontwpnj.net and we have openings all the time and they will come up at the beginning of January. We are always looking for good volunteers.”
